AI Could be the Key To Better Cyber Security

Most people don’t realize how much ‘hacking’ relies on ‘social engineering’. Users are the most vulnerable part of any online system. They forget passwords, use the same password for multiple sites, give away important details to complete strangers, and don’t realize the consequences of a cyber attack. The awareness about cyber crime is so low, that most people simply don’t bother protecting themselves.

Sophisticated attackers know this and take advantage of it. Email phishing scams, quid pro quo attacks, pretexting, and baiting all rely on a human user giving someone the benefit of the doubt and parting with vital information that can compromise a system.

With the growing use of smart devices and the burgeoning Internet of Things industries, experts expect an upturn in cyber attack volumes. A vast network of devices that absorb user data and are in direct contact with uninformed consumers is a treasure trove for cyber criminals.

So, perhaps the best way to secure a system could be to take humans out of the equation entirely.

Exponential growth

Online platforms, for the most part, struggle to keep up in this arms race in cyber warfare. However, new age computing tools such as machine learning and artificial intelligence are also growing at the same rate. AI capabilities are expanding exponentially, driven by the vast amount of data available in the digital sphere now.

Ai is rather good at pattern recognition and automated deployment. What this means is AI could soon discover and treat malware or ransomware long before it has a chance to cause harm to users or steal valuable information. When it is fully developed, AI can be thought of as the digital equivalent of our immune system – a powerful force working in the background to keep us safe.

Training the machines

The effectiveness of AI cybersecurity tools depends on how they are trained. If white-hat hackers and security experts can teach their methods to machine learning algorithms, AI tools can truly be a powerful force in this fight for data security.

Machine learning algorithms can be unleashed online to keep learning and improving their methodology over time. In this way cyber security could be fully automated making safety precautions from the user’s end unnecessary. A version of this automated security system already exists. It’s known as Intent-Based Network Security (IBNS). IBNS is a smart system that oversees a distributed network and adjusts settings and protocols when it detects a threat on the network. No human interaction is needed in most steps of this process.

Despite this, experts know that securing our digital lives can never be fully delegated to smart algorithms. Humans who use these systems will still need a way to access them and those access points could still be vulnerable to attack. However, with AI and better tools, networks can be thoroughly encrypted and capable of adapting to new threats in the near future.